Hi all,
I'm really struggling to identify what the next logical step in my process should be. I am targeting LBS / INSEAD ideally, but GMAT wise I am way off the mark. I want a 700+ score, I fully believe I am capable, but what I am about to tell you may give you other impressions.
I took my first GMAT Mock Test - started it in July, finished it in October. Yes, I split it over 3 sittings and didn't really take it seriously. I scored 495 on 29/10/24 which was a wake up call. I put my head down and started to cover GMAT OG Courses / Prep Guide and then moved onto GMAT Ninja Playlist. Since then I started working my way through OG Questions. After taking all the Q/V/DI Easy & Medium Questions, I decided to retake my first Mock #1 - (I read somewhere you don't get duplicate questions if you retry once) - I scored 555 (Q77/V77/D78) on 30/11/2024 - which I was super bummed out about, especially 46th Percentile for Quant! And a 60 pt increase after 4 weeks of intense preparation. BUT I hadn't tried the hard questions in the OG at that point so that gave me SOME hope.
I have finished the Hard Quant Questions in the OG Questions - but to be honest, about 30% of them didn't feel they were "hard". I ended up getting 53% across all those questions and assuming 30% weren't actually "hard" questions (they were very similar in structure/format to Easy/Medium OG questions), that means my % in Hard Qs is even lower than 53%. I came across this site much later in my journey (wish it was sooner! but have decided before I move onto V/DI Hard OG Questions, I'm going to run through the Quant Questions in this forum and working through the "GMAT PS Question Directory".
I am an Engineer and feel like my Quant should be way higher than it is so this has been quite a humbling experience so far but also disheartening! Where I am stuck is when I move on from one difficulty to the next, I am currently working through 655-705 Questions but only get 50% right. Should I move onto 705+ now? Or would you recommend I get higher %. I am doing 20-30 questions per sitting so basing % of these attempts.
From that point, I'll probably go back to OG Quant Hard questions - retry my incorrect ones and hopefully score a better mark. Then probably repeat similar process for V & DI depending how I get on with the OG questions. I.e. OG Questions -> GMATClub Forum Qs -> Retry OG Questions. A big problem I have is attention when it comes to Verbal RC, if the passage doesn't interest me, my mind switches off and I start to day dream. So often, I can read the same paragraph 2-3 times before I register the meaning! I haven't really practised enough RC questions, but the GMAT Ninja series tips have helped address some of these issues but I have to hone this in before I sit my Mock 2.
My plan is to finish with Mock 2, for final pointers and then attempt an exam on the 21st December - just in time for R2 deadlines. A shed load of work to do! I'm not sure how else to make my studying more efficient and more focused. Could you offer advise on how I may improve my approach? Now that I'm writing this, I am accepting that I may miss R2 deadlines and instead will likely be forced into R3 Deadlines for LBS next September or R1 INSEAD Jan'26 deadlines.
I guess for more background information my preparation windows is relatively inconsistent. I try squeeze out hours when I can. I'll do AT LEAST a couple hours on working days but this is highly dependent on the day itself but could happen before I wake up or I try to do an hour or two during work hours or couple hours in an evening. This is all very energy and workload dependent (and whether I go into the office etc). My weekends I tend to do 8-10 hour days, broken into 3/4 segments. I almost always stop when I start getting multiple questions wrong in a row.
If you've even taken the time to read all this, I'd say thank you. If you're able to provide some feedback, I'd be grateful too!
Best,
N